


Sheriff White

by Greylin_R



Category: Fables - Willingham, Fables: The Wolf Among Us (Comic), Fables: The Wolf Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Big Bad Wolf - Freeform, F/M, Please read, Slow Burn, Snow and Bigby have history, Violence, and the video game all at once, but i love smut so who am i kidding?, but they don't exactly realize it, crane is a sick prick, crooked man is more conniving than he appears, derivative of the original comic, finally friends to lovers, friend to estranged friends, georgie is actually just a coward, holly relates, i hope this was worth it, if bigby didn't take the job, its been two and a half centuries, its hard making an alternate path of action, light mate referencing, not at first, probably no explicit sexual content, questioning all the what ifs, snow and bigby work together, snow has trauma, so far-i love it, this was hard as fuck, tried not to be so heavily influenced and follow my own path, video game comic, warning-i suck @ tags, wrote 20000 words in less than 2 days
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:28:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29729733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greylin_R/pseuds/Greylin_R
Summary: This story is an accumulation of the original Fables comic by Willingham, The Wolf Among Us video game by Telltale, and The Wolf Among Us comic. A true tri-cherry picking event.What if Bigby had refused to take the job as Fable Town's sheriff and the responsibility had fallen on Snow? How would the events of the Puddin' and Pie murders have played out?In the year 1983, 250 years after Snow White had tried and failed to recruit The Big Bad Wolf as Fable Town's Sheriff, she's still hard at work. Keeping the peace, following orders, and trying to do her best for the town's citizens. But it doesn't seem to be enough. Theres a power rising from the deep, seedy under belly of Fable Town and Snow is determined to put a stop to it. However, as a vigilante comes forward, wreaking havoc on her investigation, she discovers some information she wasn't expecting. During this case Snow will delve into a part of town she's not shown nearly enough attention to in recent years, and as it turns out... she might just find exactly what she's been looking for.
Relationships: Snow White/Bigby Wolf
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	Sheriff White

**Author's Note:**

> Im going to try to keep these chapters averaging at about 3,000 words, but as it's an average there will be some chapters that are slightly shorter and some that are slightly longer :) We will see!

Snow often thinks back to simpler times. But it happens more often than not when she's stressed. Which turns out to be most days as of late.

She dreams for the Old World, before the Adversary, where ancient forests were home to great beasts and the only thing you feared were the biggest and baddest of them all. None of this threat of mundy exposure or increased glamour prices. Snow just wanted to be free again. And when she found the time to really recall all those centuries ago, she can almost feel the crisp forest air and the soft blades of grass beneath her bare feel, the sun on her face and the warmth of a good friend at her back.

But those days were gone; and it pained her less each time she realized it.

Snow had been serving as Fable Town Sheriff under Ichabod Crane for the past century. And every time King Cole decided to leave, Fable Town's financial status seemed to end up worse than the last time. Honestly she would take Bluebeard as her superior over Crane any day of the week.

It didn't help that King Cole has been gone for his longest running streak, it's been almost an entire year since the last time she had spoken to him in person. His last letter having depicted the glorious countryside of England's finest courtyards. Maybe she wouldn't have been so upset about it if the business office was under different management.

Maybe then her job wouldn't be so hard.

Fable Town was struggling, she could see it every time she stepped outside the Woodlands to answer another desperate plea for help. And even worse, a portion of Fable town's citizens were beginning to shut her out and take matters into their own hands.

But of course Snow could always rely on Toad's frantic calls for help to keep her going.

Snow walked back into the business office just a quarter before midnight. She's thankful to find that the citizens of Fable Town could at least respect that there was no standing outside the office after ten pm. But from the signup at the door, she could tell tomorrow was going to be just as hectic.

She'd just gotten back from taking a disturbance call at Toad's place. It was Woody, again, harassing some girl over payment due. It was dealt with easy enough; his drunken attempts to overpower her meant nothing when he was met with the needle sharp tip of her blade at his jugular. She'd gotten him to confess to honestly not having the money to pay the her, besides a measly six dollars in his wallet, and Snow payed the girl herself. It was the least she could due to supplement her for the black eye she now sported.

But by now, a quarter till midnight, she was exhausted and there was still that meeting with Beauty. Unthinkingly she had postponed instead of canceling on account of Toad's call, hoping it would cause Beauty to just cancel the meeting herself. However, as it turned out, the later time worked better with her new work schedule.

Lucky Snow.

After the long day she'd had, Snow was ready to go collapse into her queen sized bed–sans shower–and just forget today ever happened. It was a daily routine for her, though she hadn't quite master the "forget about it" part.

Snow fell into the old as shit office chair at her desk, rubbing tiredly at her temples, and feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. Had she drank any water today? Probably not. God she needed to start taking better care of herself. And after a quick examination, she found she reeked like the New York City smog she had spend the majority of the day running around in; maybe she would take that shower before bed.

"Snow!" Beauty's piercing voice sounded before the door to the business office had even opened fully.

At this ungodly hour one would think she would have a little more consideration for the rest of the sleeping world. But this was an ex-princess who still, after all this time, hadn't let go of the ideals behind the title.

"Snow there's something you need to see." She insisted frantically.

Snow wasn't always sure when to trust the severity of a situation with Beauty, but if she started to doubt her now, something might get overlooked.

Snow cringed when she spotted the decapitate head laying on the steps to the Woodlands.

Beauty had refused to come outside again, stating that seeing it once was enough, and Snow couldn't blame her. The sight was grotesque, even for her. Predictively, the discovery was made harder by the fact that it was the same girl from earlier this evening. Snow felt immeasurably guilty as she looked over the severed head of the girl she had almost helped.

She should have taken Woody in, but who was she to think that he would actually kill the girl. He was usually all talk and no action, but it seemed like he must have hit his breaking point.

Snow crouches down, examining the pristine cut of her wound. It was certainly done by something magic bound, there was no way you get get a cut that clean with just anything. And as Snow could recall, Woody was in possession of an axe just to that caliper.

As she examines her face–blood pooled and soaking her hair on the side of her face pressed into the ground, her listless gaze unseeing out the gate of the Woodlands–Snow catches sight of a little pink strip of fabric poking out from between her partially sealed lips. Grimacing, she takes the damp fabric between her index and thumb and pulls it free. The pink ribbon kept going for a moment but when it released, there was a ring tied to the end of it. A strange seal she couldn't recall ever seeing before engraved into the flat of it. It was definitely from the old world, maybe a family seal? But the question was; was it hers? Or did she steal it?

"I need to move her." Snow spoke, catching Beauty's troubled glaze over her shoulder. "Get Grimbles jacket."

There's a shout of protest, but Beauty returns with the security jacket swiftly, all while keeping her eyes averted from the scene.

"What are we gonna do?" Beauty asks in a hushed voice as they walk back to the business office, a head tucked under Snows arm.

That's a first.

"I'm gonna figure out who this girl is and then stop whoever did this to her before anyone else gets hurt."

"Do you have any idea who did it?"

"Maybe the Woodsman... possibly her pimp."

Beauty gasps softly. "She's... a working girl? How terrible."

"And what kind of work do you do?" Snow asks pointedly and Beauty flushes; it's something Beauty still hasn't fully revealed the details of and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious.

"Well I'm not a _prostitute_." She whispers harshly.

"No, you just work in the motel they all seem to take their clients to." She sighs sensing she's upset beauty with her blatant honesty. "Everybody's got a story. Don't judge someone by the chapter you walked in on."

Crane is, unfortunately, back down in the office when she walks in. What he could possible be doing here at this hour Snow is unsure of, but he's scavenging his desk for something and doesn't see them right away. It doesn't take long for him to notice their presence.

"Go home Beauty." She smiles over at her and Beauty looks to be relieved at being spared this meeting with Crane.

"Miss Snow, have you seen that bottle of wine I sent you for? I left it on my way out."

"I haven't sir." She debates telling him, but as deputy mayor it really is something he should know about. "Ichabod, there's been a murder."

The man startles and gapes up at her past that wide pointed nose of his. Pushing his readers back into place. His spindly body is already shaking like a leaf.

"A murder? T-that's-" he swallows thickly, steadying himself. "This situation must be kept under wraps." He speaks firmly, hands settling down onto his desk with a resounding clap. "Everything must run smoothly in King Cole's absence and I will not have this messing it up."

"I have a suspect." She assures him and notices the jacket has begun to drip, staining the stone floor beside her foot. "I just need to track him down and get some-"

"Miss White!" He all but shrieks. "Whatever it there that you're holding, dispose of it at once."

"It's the murder victims head, I need to call Doctor Swineheart in so he can examine it." She informs him dryly.

"Just get it out of my sight." He's paler than usual and the shaking has returned, she oddly enjoys seeing him like this.

"Bufkin." She calls and the green-furred monkey comes flying down from the rafters, albeit clumsily.

He's drunk. But that's to be expected. And it answers the question of the missing wine.

"I need you to take this further back into the office and give Doctor Swineheart a call." She instructs carefully, placing the bundle into his arms, feeling only slightly sorry that he's going to be bloodstained too.

He dips under the weight of her, but corrects his flight to compensate.

"Right away Miss Snow."

 _Sheriff_ , she wants to correct but knows it's probably pointless.

"Who's your suspect?" Crane asks again adjusting his stance now that the source of his discomfort is removed.

"The Woodsman." She announces and moves immediately to check the book of Fables. "But first I need to figure out who this girl was."

"You don't even know who she is yet?" Crane pipes irritatedly.

"I didn't catch her name." Snow has to bite back the temper rising on her tongue.

"You seem to have a long night ahead of yourself." Crane yawns as he moves towards the door and Snow feels incredibly jealous that's he's even going to be able to sleep after news like this. "Get this dealt with, quickly."

She sighs as the door slams shut behind him and she sets the books down. She's still exhausted, but she knows she's not going to be able to sleep, so she sets to work examining The Book of Fables

* * *

The woman's name is faith, she discovers. And her story... it's one of the worst she's heard. Unfiltered by children's novels, betrothed to her own father after her mother's passing, for the sake of her comparable beauty, dawning a donkey skin cloak to hide her appearance so she can escape him. But in the end she found love, and then like all of them the Adversary came and forced them out of their comfortable lives into a living hell.

Before she could even attempt to find Faith's husband, to return the ring and tell him of his wife's untimely death, she receives another desperate call from Toad.

She almost puts it off in favor of finding Lawrence but, after last night, she's hoping she can stop something similar to this from happening or that it's Woody again and she can take him in. Nice and easy.

She does however, change first, because she knows Toads got a son and she wouldn't want to upset him by wearing a blood stained blazer. But soon enough she's taking a cab to Toad's and wincing at the blinding midmorning sun. Maybe she had slept a little longer than she thought.

Whoever it was that was clattering around in an upstairs apartment, they're gone before she can get there, and Toad is adamantly trying to brush her off the scent. But his insistence that everything is fine and she should go has her even more curious. His son, TJ, is sobbing inconsolably behind his father.

"Are you okay?" She asks softly, crouching down so she's not a looming figure above him.

"He's fine miss, just stubbed his webbing is all. Much more of a swimmer than a walker. Like his dad." Toad says the last bit with a smile, trying to draw her off, but it's tense.

"Can I come in?" She asks again. "And this time I'm asking as the Fable Town sheriff."

The look he gives her in nothing short of unpleasant, but he lets the door fall open more than the crack he had held it at before.

Upon first glance she notices the broken lamp, but there are other things the more she inspects. Blood on the wall, blood on a fire poke, finger prints in the dust on the window sill and a stamped out cigarette just below it. It's clear that the apartment door has been busted in, and that Toad must have thrown the lamp from the living room at whoever did it, but he's not budging.

"Toad I need you to tell me what happened here or I can't help you." She makes perfectly clear, voice dripping irritation.

She's tired, her neck hurts, and she wants to go find Woody and make some leeway on this case. She doesn't want to waste anymore time than she already has. Though Toad seems to be loosing his resolve by the way he scratches at the back of his head and adjusts his hat every so often.

"There's been a murder Toad." She released the information and instantly has a feeling she's going to regret it.

But he doesn't seem shocked by the news at all and it rightfully strikes her as odd.

"If the Woodsman was here I need to know-"

"It wasn't the fuckin' Woodsman! It was one of those fuckin' Tweedles!" He shouts frustratedly, sighing as he exposes the truth of the situation.

"The Tweedles? Which one?"

"Like 'ell If I'd know. You 'ave to strip em down to their fuckin' johnnies before you can tell em apart."

She cringes at Toad's explicit use of language in front of his son, but TJ doesn't even flinch.

"Were they looking for something? Or someone?" She presses; Toad is about to slip, she can feel it.

"Must've 'ad somethin' to do with that girl." He shakes his head eyes downcast.

"Faith? Is someone looking for her? Maybe her killer?"

Toad busts, throwing his hands in the air in his frustration.

"First the fuckin' Tweedle come in 'ere, wrecks me shit, scares me boy 'alf to death. Then- damn that nosey bastard!" He goes off on a small tangent arms flailing about him.

"Toad, do you know what the Tweedles were looking for?" Snow tries to redirect.

"I already told him I don't know!"

"Him? Who's him?"

"Him?" Toad pauses seeming to regain himself and a look of fear crosses his face plainly. "T-the Tweedle of course, Miss White."

She lets the lie slide, for the sake of TJ if nothing else.

So there is someone else trying to either track down or hide Faith's killer. This case just got a little more involved. Now, on top of Woody and whoever Faith was working for, she's got the Tweedles and some mystery guy going around asking the same questions she is. She contemplates it for a moment, but really doesn't know where to go with this information just yet. She needs to find Woody, that's still first priority and then maybe it will lead her in the right direction.

Glancing back at Toad she notices the smaller toad, quivering at his fathers side.

"TJ? Flycatcher told me you have an awesome bug collection." His attention falls back to her and she tries for her most sympathetic smile. "Could I see it? Only for a moment and then I'll be out of your way." She assures them both, but she honestly just wants a moment to talk to TJ, alone.

TJ nods gently, the fear slowly fading from his expression.

"I've got weevils." He informs her softly a smile starting to form.

"Great."

TJ takes her down a short hallway to his bedroom, sure enough a plethora of different bugs are in little cases perched on just about every flat piece of furniture in the room. He points them all out for her, but especially the weevils.

"Weevils are my favorite." He declares trusting a small ring box with a small brown beetle pinned to the cushion.

She looks around for a moment before spotting the shiny blue one she had seen earlier.

"I like this one, it's really pretty." She smiles and he picks it up so she can get a closer look.

"This ones a willow beetle." He smiles back letting her examine the bug for a moment.

"Tj," She redirects and feels slightly guilty in doing so. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah Miss Snow?"

"Earlier, your father said that someone came and asked him what the Tweedle was looking for." She sees the way TJ visibly shrinks and hopes she can ask before he closes off completely. "Can you tell me who it was? It's very important TJ, I promise I won't get you into any trouble."

"I'm not suppose to tell _anyone_." He shifts, setting the willow beetle back in its spot amongst the others.

"I know, but it is really important. It'll help me find the people who hurt that girl."

He ponders her request, thinking hard if the crease between his young eyes is anything to go by.

"B-" he stops before he can start and shakes his head quickly eyes darting from her to the door in fear.

"It's ok, you don't have to say. Thank you TJ." She moves to stand, but a cold amphibian hand settles on hers.

"He's not bad Miss Snow." He speaks ever so quietly. "He just makes bad choices sometimes."

She smiles at him in understanding.

"We all do TJ." She affirms and it seems to calm him.

Her talk with TJ, while brief has given her a lot to think about.

"Miss White?" Toad asks as she enters back into the living room with TJ.

He's holding a large fur coat in his hands, struggling under the weight of it.

"What's this?" She asks and moves to take it from him.

"I found it with the Woodsman's things, tried to offer it to the Tweedles, but they didn't want it." He explains nervously looking her over as she inspects the coat.

"And you didn't give it to this other person who's been asking question?" She finds it odd that after two other inquisitive visitors, she still managed to be the one to get the coat.

"It's been a rough morning, I'd forgotten about it until just now."

When she lifts it, she realizes it's not just a fur coat. It's Faith's donkey skin. And there's a letter in the inside pocket, addressed to Lawrence.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates every Friday :)


End file.
